A familiar sign of spring in the Aurora area, Fermilab has welcomed its first bison calf of the year.
Born Tuesday, the healthy cinnamon-colored calf is staying close to its mother as it takes its first steps, the lab announced.
The arrival of the first newborn American bison calf to the herd at Fermilab each spring is a beloved tradition for the Batavia-based laboratory.
The bison herd dates back to the lab’s first director, Robert Wilson, who elected in 1969 to turn part of Fermilab’s property into a sanctuary farm. The establishing of the herd was meant to connect the laboratory with the Illinois prairie that once dominated the area, a news release from Fermilab on Tuesday said.
“People come to Fermilab for world‑class science, but the bison herd has become one of the most beloved parts of our identity,” Fermilab Director Norbert Holtkamp said in the news release.
Fermilab’s current bison herd includes two bulls and 23 cows, according to the laboratory. The Fermilab herd lives naturally on the prairie on the lab’s property, with Fermilab keepers only providing them with structures within corrals to block strong winds. In the winter, their food is supplemented with hay and grain when grass is not as plentiful.
Calving season usually starts in the middle of April and continues until June, the news release said. Each spring, lab herdsman Cleo Garcia expects around 20 calves. Garcia feeds and checks on the bison daily, as well as monitors the young calves to make sure they are healthy, lab officials said.
Last year, 20 new calves were born, the release said, with four arriving by surprise in the late summer.
The public can view the herd at any time using the lab’s bison camera at: https://www.fnal.gov/pub/about/bisoncam/. Individuals can also visit Fermilab’s outdoor public areas from dawn to dusk every day, the lab said.
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